Week 171. I've often been down on Brad Smith, but he came up huge again last night.
2. I was right about the Jets using Shonn Greene early. He was great on the very long drive that should have resulted in a TD but stalled at the Bengals two.
3. Thomas Jones, in contrast, may be starting to slow down.
4. Kerry Rhodes seemed to be in on a number of plays. He should have had a TD return on his fumble recovery.
5. Mark Sanchez was much better than his stat line indicates.
6. The Jets need David Harris to recover quickly from his ankle injury.
7. The only downside from last night's game was the special teams coverage, which allowed several long returns.
8. Actually, there was another downside to the Jets rout for me: With the Jets up 27-0 at the half, my ride to Manhattan (where I parked my car) decided to leave early! I wasn't going anywhere. Fortunately, I was able to catch a post-game bus to the Port Authority bus terminal. In the meantime, I watched the rest of the game from the ride's vacated seat on the 45 yard line.
9. During the course of the game, Jets Meadowlands highlights were shown on the big screen. Alas, there really aren't (weren't?) very many such highlights.
10. Since Bill Parcells joined the Jets, they have gone to the playoffs six times in 13 seasons. During those 13 seasons, the Jets have had nine winning seasons, three losing seasons, and one 8-8 season.
Unfortunately, except for Parcells' 1998 team, the Jets still have not been real Super Bowl contenders.
11. The Bengals are clearly the weakest of the four AFC division winners, and the best possible first round draw for the Jets. That said, I expect the Bengals to play much better on Saturday.
12. After the Jets lost to Jacksonville and fell to 4-5, I decided it was safe to make vacation plans and fly out to San Diego on January 17. Hopefully, the Jets will make me regret doing that. It will drive me nuts, though, if the Jets are at the Chargers on the 17th (as will happen if they win and Baltimore beats the Patriots) and I have to watch on TV a few miles from the stadium.
13. At halftime, a lot of old Jets appeared. But where was Keyshawn Johnson - the star of Parcells' teams?
posted on 1/04/2010
